Case Study # 1

This example will follow a very typical family, living paycheck to paycheck, with little or no savings, residing in a conventional home, but wishing to lower their monthly energy costs. Their current monthly utility bill averages $200 in the spring & fall, $300 in summer, and $400 in winter. The eventual goal is to transition to complete offgrid living, involving a minimum of lifestyle changes. Sustainable is the desired result. Sounds impossible, right? Maybe to some people! This goal will not be easy, but can be accomplished. Successful achievement will be akin to paying off a large credit card balance. It will take time and dedication, patience, not a small amount of work, but little sacrifice, unless that is the approach you prefer. One sacrifices nothing to eliminate waste. Best of all, anyone can do it! I just saw a web story about how to live well with $40,000 year! Ya think! Try that with $20,000 or less. That's what this exercise is all about, people that do not have $50,000 + to spend for an alternative energy system. If this family leaves outside lights on 24/7, has three computers booted up all the time (some not in use), cooks 4 or 5 meals a day for different members at different times, does a partial load of laundry twice a day every day, has three or more remote controlled tvs (in use or not), you get the picture, an alternative energy system to support this usage pattern will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars! We would not touch this impossible project if that is the type of lifestyle the family wishes to maintain. This family will remain a slave to the bill, and if someone gets laid-off and unemployment benefits exhaust, this family is in serious trouble! Everyone must think about what they are doing, and some conventional thinking must go. For instance, practically every home today has a refrigerator/freezer sitting in very close proximity to the second largest heat source in the home, the kitchen stove. In some cases they are side by side! This exercise is not rocket science, one just has to think! Apparently, few people are aware that insulation can easily be added to any refrigerator to lessen it's run time and save operating costs. Small expense and a little work are all that is needed. Similar opportunities exist in every home. STEP 1: If you don't know how, learn to read your electric meter, it's easy. The dials are read from left to right. If any dial pointer is right on the number, look at the dial to the right of it. If this pointer is before 0, the first dial reads the lower number, if it is after 0, the first dial reads the higher number. This step is a must! If you think your power company is strictly honest, think again! About 15 years ago, our electric bill doubled from one month to the next, and our usage pattern was unchanged. I immediately went and read the meter. The reading number was well below the final reading on the bill that was received a few days earlier! The power company had not read the meter, they just put down whatever they wanted. Not with my money! I called the local utility and informed them that if this happened again, I would be the proud new owner! Our meter was read every succeeding month thereafter. STEP 2: Perform a usage audit. Examine past utility bills to determine usage averages. The more information available, the more accurate the audit. Some utility bills include current monthly kilowatt hour usage, the same month from the previous year, and average daily usage figures. These daily averages are as revealing as monthly statistics. Some families only do laundry or cook meals on weekends, so those numbers will be higher than the rest of the week. Compile these from as far back in time as possible. Once you know what you are using, you can determine what you will be saving.

STEP 3: Perform an energy audit. Identify and eliminate waste. Cook only whole family meals. Launder only full loads. If it uses electricity and is not being used, turn it off! Eliminate phantom loads.These are electrical appliances that use power when turned off. Anything remotely controlled, or that has a standby mode, has a phantom draw. Tv's, stereo systems, computer systems, vcr's and dvd players, and some window a/c units are prime examples of phantom loads. Microwaves, coffeemakers, some laundry appliances, and anything with a built-in timer or clock uses power continuously. The use of switchable surge strips can eliminate much of this waste, are relatively inexpensive, and protect against voltage spikes. If the budget does not allow purchase of these strips at this time, wait until step 5. Moderate the temperature setting on the hot water heater. 120 degrees is acceptable, although some are set at 140. If not in use already, install an insulation blanket now, or at step 5. The goal here is to reduce as much waste as possible at little or no cost.

STEP 4: Quantify savings. Over a period of time, compare current usage figures to the historical numbers. Daily and monthly numbers should be compared to identify savings in dollars and cents. Now that you have monetary savings numbers in hand, we can move on to the real benefits of this journey.

STEP 5: After the first month or two, as the savings build up, you can use them to generate even more savings. Purchase surge strips, discussed earlier, a programmable thermostat if you don't already have one, energy efficient lighting, and/or extra insulation for the fridge, water heater, or home. A kill-a-watt meter is a very useful tool. Any 110 volt appliance can be plugged into it to determine the power usage. All appliances are not created equal. Two very similar items can have drastically different power requirements. Savings will start small, but if you stick with the plan, they will grow exponentially. During this time, if an item needs replaced, use the kill-a-watt meter to determine the best power-miser replacement. The extra cost should not be that much. Any benefit at all gained here will grow considerably as time goes on. This technique operates just like a retirement account, which is exactly what it is. You save money so you can maintain your lifestyle when you retire. Why would you not participate in this exercise, as well? You will hear that if you want to make a difference, a large investment is needed. A good financial adviser will tell you that any contribution to a retirement plan is better than none! And the best part about this plan is, your savings are not exposed to losses on wall street! The previously mentioned utility bill will add up to around $3,300 per year, quite a large chunk of cash from which to glean savings.

STEP 6: After a year or two, you should be seeing the savings add up. Now is the time to really make progress by investing in some generation hardware. There are two directions one could take, start with solar thermal (water heating), or solar electric. A basic solar thermal system will begin at about $5,000. Electric generation would be the least costly to get started with. The beauty of this strategy is the modular aspect of solar electric. A basic system will begin at about half the cost of the thermal system. This is when the savings will really start to multiply! Began with two modules, a third can be purchased when the amount of savings warrant. As the savings build, the system can be expanded until total energy independence is achieved. Self-sufficiency can be reached sooner than most think, if you stick with the plan. Remember this story: A man offers to work for thirty days, at a starting rate of a penny the first day, doubled every day. Early wages are very small, but the last day's pay will be over a million dollars!